Reviewed: Jan. 8, 2005

I never had a chance to find out how long these cookies were supposed to "set" on the cookie sheets because they all disappeared long before the 10 minutes were up! A few substitutions I made because I was working with a pretty basic food supply: 2 2/3 cups chocolate chips is about a pound of semisweet chocolate; add 1/4 tsp baking soda to regular cocoa powder if you can't get "Dutch process"; if you use salted butter, reduce salt by 1/2 amount. Do use parchment paper, but otherwise there is nothing tricky or difficult or fussy about these cookies. I had requests for another batch before I had finished washing up from the first one!

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90 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

GZJ123

Reviewed: Aug. 3, 2001

Really great chocolate flavor. I'd been having trouble getting the right consistency in the finished cookie, though...I would end up having to throw out half the batch (never seem to set up). But the flavor is so awesome that I kept trying til I got it right. Definitely, the trick to these cookies is to let the dough sit at LEAST 45 minutes before scooping/baking. Now they're coming out perfect every time. Totally decadent cookie.

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52 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

BONNIE Q.

Reviewed: Aug. 10, 2006

Terrific! For the first batch, I just scooped spoonfuls of dough onto a baking tray. Although they were tasty, they spread out until they were really thin, and almost overcooked. For the next 2 batches, I put the dough into a muffin pan, and out came perfectly round, thick cookies! Yum. I would definitely recommend this recipe , as well as the muffin pan. Thanks for the recipe!

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38 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Allyson R

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

Reviewed: Dec. 12, 2006

I definitely think next time the coffee is being left out. There was too much of a coffee flavor and I much prefer to have more chocolate flavor then coffee. Other then that, 35-40 mins for setting seemed to work great for me. A hint though.... do NOT put the mix in the refrigerator to have it set up faster. It doesn't work and just turns the mix really hard. :-)

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33 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

TIMMCGRAWFAN17F

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Marengo, Iowa, USA

Living In: Hiawatha, Iowa, USA

Reviewed: Dec. 11, 2006

This cookie got rave reviews from all the chocolate lovers in my family. I have made them twice-some for home-most for a cookie exchange. Good quality chocolate is key to a great cookie. I used Ghiradelli bittersweet & added 1 cup of chocolate chips-semisweet one time and milk chocolate the other time. Dutch process cocoa is a must too. Droste is the brand I use and it's got a great flavor. If you don't wait too long between melting the chocolate & adding it to the sugar mixture, the dough won't get too stiff when you mix in the flour. Once the dough is all mixed, letting it sit for half an hour will let the chocolate firm up and not be too difficult to roll into balls.

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23 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

lkj

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Rochester, Michigan, USA

Living In: Williamsburg, Virginia, USA

Reviewed: Oct. 23, 2006

Great recipe. The first couple of batches I used a cookie scoop for the dough, but was not all that pleased with the finished product. I decided to try rolling a batch into balls...and what a difference! Great presentation...you end up with a cookie that is shiny and very elegant looking. I strongly suggest the rolling. Also, next time I will add some additional chocolate chunks or chips at the end for a teeny bit more chocolate. Very yummy recipe...I'll add this one to my list of 'tried and true'!

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22 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

1butterycuppy

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Reviewed: Jul. 19, 2006

This is a fantastic recipe! It comes from the Cooks Illustrated New Best Recipes cook book. For people who have had trouble with the recipe, I would recommend buying really good quality bittersweet chocolate (not semi-sweet). I used Lindt 70% cocoa bittersweet baking bars and valhrona cocoa powder. I also used finely ground espresso instead of instant coffee granules and it really heightened the flavor of the chocolate. This was definitely worth the work to make.

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22 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Alexa

Reviewed: Nov. 23, 2006

These are incredibly chocolately! The dough is a little hard to handle, but if you actually follow the recipe and let it "set" for 35 minutes, it's much easier. I got the crackley texture by rolling into balls as opposed to dropping from a spoon and I found 9 minutes in the oven was perfect timing. They are dense and chewy like brownies with a subtle flavor of mocha from the coffee granules. So good!!

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16 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

whimkat

Reviewed: Mar. 16, 2006

we loved these cookies and the yummy brownie like consistency. I made them a bit bigger than the recipe and just watch them so they don't burn. With the first batch I thought they weren't done so I left them in longer. the they burned! So I realized the center will be pretty soft when you take them out!

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15 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Jennifer

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Potomac, Maryland, USA

Living In: Teaneck, New Jersey, USA

Reviewed: Oct. 4, 2005

These really are the ultimate chocolate cookies! The recipe can easily handle the addition of chocolate chips, walnuts, or even peanut butter chips. By the way, dutch processed cocoa can't really be substituted by adding baking soda to regular cocoa powder. It will do, but the taste is very different, which is why I keep both in my pantry.

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15 users found this review helpful